A box slides from rest down a frictionless ramp inclined at 36.0° with respect to the horizontal and is stopped at the bottom of the ramp by a spring with a spring constant of k = 1.50 104 N/m. If the box has a mass of 12.0 kg and slides 3.00 m from the point of release to the point where it comes to rest against the spring, determine the compression of the spring when the box comes to rest.

Question

A box slides from rest down a frictionless ramp inclined at 36.0° with respect to the horizontal and is stopped at the bottom of the ramp by a spring with a spring constant of k = 1.50  104 N/m. If the box has a mass of 12.0 kg and slides 3.00 m from the point of release to the point where it comes to rest against the spring, determine the compression of the spring when the box comes to rest.

matt101 · Answer

I answered a similar question here: http://openstudy.com/study#/updates/5508e7c7e4b03b42705037b6 The difference with your question is that you first need to find the height the box starts at in order to find its potential energy. Luckily you're given the angle of inclination of the ramp, and the length of the ramp (3.00 m). If you consider the ramp to be a right triangle, you can use trig to find the height, then do the rest of the question as outlined in the link above!

anonymous · Answer

Thanks so much!